


Bronze

by AmeliaAndreas3



Series: The three ranks of magic [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: But they are actually sinister and not 'hot' and noble, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Fae & Fairies, Fire Magic, Gen, Magic, Original Fiction, Petty lesbians, RWBY inspired? Kinda?, Rival Relationship, Worldbuilding, they don't wanna kill eachother they're just rivals
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:34:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26818894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmeliaAndreas3/pseuds/AmeliaAndreas3
Summary: Rhiannon Alcott made it to Vania, one of the two schools of magic available to humans in the continent of Meregone. Determined to learn the ways of fire magic, Rhiannon bonds a trio, in hopes to climb the ranks of Magic from Bronze practitioners to Golden masters.But if Rhiannon wants to get her trio to become silvers before the tournament of Greigos and Vania, she must work hard, maybe a little.. too hard. But that's so she can show that water magic snob she can beat her in the tournament.And deep from the lands far underground, the dangerous demonic faes lurk, and they have a plan
Relationships: Background m/m relationship - Relationship, Original Female Character/Original Female Character
Series: The three ranks of magic [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2082756
Kudos: 2





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I am more than hopeful to start this journey, this isn't the WIP i mentioned in my Hunger games Fics, just an Idea I got while watching RWBY. Enjoy this, I guess?

Rhiannon stared at the two application letters, as if staring would help her decide in any way.

_Vania or Grigoes, fire or water. You have two days until the post office messenger makes his weekly run in Doneven, just pick one and send!_

The fact she can apply to learn one of the two magics available to humans should be an honor as it is. young people around her age of 18 in all the corners of Meregone get the chance, but surprisingly, not all jump at the opportunity. 

"Mother, if you had to pick, what would you?" Rhiannon looked up from the two papers at her mother cooking in the kitchen. "I never wanted to get involved in those... adventures. But if I had to choose, I suppose I would choose water magic. it is far more useful to our living situation, and magic healers is something Doneven desperately needs" 

Rhiannon was no stranger to her village's condition. compared to the other villages surrounding lake Dearborn, Doneven was the most struggling of them all: Their share of the lake wasn't as prosperous in fishing as the other three, they had to work in commune with their neighbors in Temes just so they can have jobs. What their share of the lake was great in, was bringing diseases via the mosquitoes surrounding it. Yes, a healer that can learn to manipulate the water in the lake could most certainly help. 

but last year, three young women went to the school of Grigoes to learn water magic, and they haven't returned since, they have to become Silvers in order to even leave the school grounds, and who knows when that will happen? Moving up the three ranks of magic will take time, and patience, something Rhiannon lacked. 

And there was another thing, Practitioners of both kinds of magic were typically used as fighters and guards, to keep the human lands safe from a possible invasion by their mysterious demonic enemies underground. There's a slim chance she would be allowed to go back to Doneven to live the rest of her life here.

And to be honest, why would she want to come back here? 

Doneven was a ghost village of rude, desperate or grieving men and women. Everyone lost someone due to one of the gods forsaken diseases, even Rhiannon herself.

Thinking about her twin brother and what he could've become today, how he could've been sitting next to her with two papers of his own, also deciding what to do with his life now that schooling has ended... it hurted. 

No, Doneven was a place she could never return to. "Mother, you know I wouldn't be back.. for a while, no matter what I'll choose"   
"Of course I know, darling, that's why I'm not.. pushing you close to me." Her Mother sighed and sat down next to her on the leather sofa. "You always searched for a way out of here. It's in one of these schools. I'm not gonna stop you from completing your goal, just.. promise me you'll write often. Maybe even visit when you can"

"I promise, mom" 

"Good, now all you need to do is to decide! Here" Angella ran to the kitchen and brought a bowl of water to Rhiannon's side. "Watch this bowl of water, then the fire on the fireplace and tell me, which of them would you like to command?" 

Rhiannon watched how the water wiggled slowly in the wooden bowl, her reflection in them blur and dance around. Then she set down the bowl and knelt in front of the fireplace, where the orange and yellow flames danced around, reaching higher and higher. 

She put her hand closer to the fire, feeling it's warmth, knowing that coming any closer would burn, leaving her in immerse pain. 

_How_ _would it feel like to have them dance on your body, without leaving a scorch? This endless warmth at the edge of your finger tips? Being able to command lightning and electricity in due time?_

_Screw healing, I wanna do that._ Thought Rhiannon. 

"I suppose you made up your mind?" Chuckled Angella. Rhiannon nodded. Picking up the Grigoes application letter, tearing it in two, she threw it into the flames, watching them consume it entirely.  
"I'll leave you to fill up the Vania application, dinner is almost ready, alright?" Rhiannon closed her eyes as her mother kissed her forehead softly. 

Without interruption, Rhiannon turned to the letter, filling out her details before reading a bit down, the printed text asked a single question:  
 _Why do you think you are worthy of the power of fire?_

_Why am I worthy?_ Rhiannon didn't have a clear answer to this question, but she began anyway:

If I'm being perfectly honest, I don't know why I would be worthy. I want to study far away from my village as possible, to get away from a life of disease and grief.   
I could use a purpose.   
Fire in itself was not always a part that intrigued me, it was the magic, the process of learning and having a power to fight with, to pull me out of this life. I would humbly ask you to consider this request, as long as I'm out of this gods forsaken village, I'll be a perfect student and a perfect soldier once I finish, Ill do whatever I need to move up the ranks and fight faes if need be,   
Just please, get me out of here, I don't know what I'll do if I'm rejected. 

With care and serenity,  
Rhiannon Alcott. 

Rhiannon held her breath as the letter rolled into the village post office box, and watched wide eyed as the messager came to pick and sort the letters to their receiver. 

Every night she sat and prayed to the two gods the schools of magic and the cities that harboured them were named for, Vania especially: _Lady of fire, please, let me study your ways._ She whispered. 

The day she got the letter came back from Vania, that demanded she'd pack her things and present herself in the city of Vania at the last day of summer was the happiest she was in five years. 

_I made it_. 


	2. Welcome to Vania

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhiannon gets her first glimpse of the city of Vania, as well as the school.

"So, what is your purpose of entering our city; young lady?" The guard near the ferry ticket company snarled. Rhiannon opened her mouth to say befire he cut her off: "no Don't tell me, you are here to study at Vania academy, aren't you?" 

Rhiannon closed her mouth into a frown, rudeness was common in Doneven, and she wasn't surprised to find it common in one of the biggest city states as well. _Oh, wonderful, I left the rudeness of home just to be greeted with more rudeness._

"Yes. I'm here for the Vania academy" Rhiannon gritted her teeth and presented him with the money. "One ticket to the ferry into the city, please" 

The man sighed, and gave her the paper with the red string, as she moved to the little dock, waiting between men, women and children bustling around, pushing her and her luggage forward. Rhiannon struggled to keep up, grunting to herself. 

_Of course the city would be hustling and cramp, this is the biggest city state in Meregone!_

"Sorry, sorry! Coming through!" A girl around her age was also dragging her luggage around, trying to make herself way in the sea of people as they all entered the ferry at once. Without noticing, she crushed into Rhiannon, her reflexes kicked in, she still kept to her feet; the other girl.. wasn't as fortunate.

"Oh gods! Im so sorry! This my first time like this on a ferry, you'd think I'd be accustomed to live with so many people, but this? This is insane" the girl had a mess of charcoal black curls, and her skin was the color of the oak trees surrounding Doneven... her eyes were as dark and glinting. She looked friendly enough. 

"It's okay" Rhiannon helped her up. "Why, where are you from?" 

"Rever Belle! I'm an eastern bay born. Pretty big city state but nothing like this!" The girl picked up her luggage and patted herself. "I'm Nadine, By the way" she offered a hand. 

"Rhiannon" 

"So, Rhiannon, I'm guessing you are here for Vania academy too?" Nadine led them to an empty wooden bench near the front of the ferry. "Yep" Rhiannon patted her dress' pocket, where the acceptance letter was guarded with her dear life. Her ticket into the school. 

"Where are you from, Rhiannon?" Asked Nadine. "You know Lake Dearborn and the six alliance, right?" "Of course, which village are you from? Ringer? Malaqie?" 

Rhiannon wanted to laugh as Nadine counted the two big known villages of the alliance, the ones who fish properly, are stable and beautiful to see from the other side of the lake.. "no, I'm from Doneven" 

Nadine blinked, confused. "Is there even a Doneven in the alliance?" 

"Unfortunately, we are the saddest, most pathetic excuse for a village in the alliance." Rhiannon sighed. "I bet the only reason you would even think about our village is by hearing about the Fanila disease" 

"I think I heard about that" Nadine nodded. 

"This is the main reason I'm here. I practically begged them to get me out of there. And it worked!" Rhiannon chuckled and let the wind blow her short brown hair from her face. 

"In my application letter I wrote about my love of learning, well, I chose fire because i wanna learn to control objects in mid air and I heard you can do that with fire magic" Nadine looked away just as the ferry entered the city:

The city of Vania, at least in maps, was surrounded by the river Rann, that flowed from lake Mero, the river flowed into the city, and now, Nadine and Rhiannon entered its territory. 

The city was marvelous in size and progress, Rhiannon had never seen towering buildings in person, the highest building in Doneven was two stores and was the governing council's meeting place. But this? Rhiannon had to look up until she couldn't see the top. People walked and jogged along the streets and above their heads, on glass bridges. And the best part? Electricity! Actual electricity! Lamp posts that were dark now, but surely would be lit tonight! Rhiannon let out a dreamy sigh..

"We never had much electricity in Doneven" she told the dumbfounded Nadine. "For real?" Her dark eyes glinting with confusion. Her eyebrows raised.

"Yes, get why I wanted to leave?" 

"Yes, I'm sure we can go explore this new strange land for you" chucked Nadine. "Hopfully we'd be on the same trio."

 _Oh no, I forgot about the trios._ Rhiannon froze. 

Nadine probably saw the change in her face. "It's okay! I read somewhere they are considering your request if you tell them there's someone specific you wanna be with. Lets hope it's reliable" 

Rhiannon never thought about the concept of friends. Alex was her bestest friend in the world on top of being her brother, when she lost him, she lost the one friend she had. This girl was nice enough to care about her..

"Look, we made it to the end of the river. The ferry stopped" only when Nadine pulled her out of her thoughts Rhiannon realized their ferry had stopped in a big round dock along with other ferries. They were surrounded by a rounded building, Nadine pulled her inside, checking one of the boards for information.

"This leads to the train station building, there's a direct line to the academy from there, and it's leaving in twenty minutes!" Yelled Nadine, signaling Rhiannon to run after her. There was no time to stop and stare in awe of everything. "How do you know where to go?" Asked Rhiannon, their feet still pounding against the smooth white floor. 

"Memorized the map that came with the letter" said Nadine, screeching into a halt in such speed that Rhiannon almost crushed into her. "We made it five minutes before it's due" Nadine pointed at fhe board to their left, "see this train? It says "academy". Thats the one were taking" 

Rhiannon didn't understand a thing about this, but nodded, trying ti catch her breath. "Ever been on a train before?" She asked Nadine. "Of course, moved around Rever Belle like a champ!" Nadine was also out of breath. 

"Well I haven't, And I haven't the slightest clue what am I supposed to do" 

A silver train with glass windows screeched into a halt, "see that? That's our train" Nadine pulled her, along with her luggage forward, into a train car. Other young men and women climbed above, Rhiannon guessed they were coming to Vania academy too. 

Not long after, the trai started moving, Rhiannon held onto her luggage tightly and wiggled in her seat. "First time on a train, huh? Thoughts?" 

"It's...slower than I thought it would be! It looked so fast in photos" Rhiannon watched how the building ran past them, the people bellow seemed like ants. "Well, sit back. I read the Trip is only 30 minutes long, so you might wanna take in as most as you can" Nadine leaned back in her seat.

Rhiannon drank each view of the city: buildings and shops and big centers. In a certain angle, she could still see the way she made in the ferry, the river bellow them, and then it dissapeared as well. Making way to the biggest structure Rhiannon has ever seen.

Like a queen's castle- no, even bigger than that- in a semi cricled structured and painted in black and Gold that merged together at points, the two golden towers glinting in the sun, Nadine said it's "for the aesthetic" and that there's nothing actually there...

There stood her destination: Vania academy of fire magic. 


	3. Welcome to Vania (the school, that is)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhiannon and Nadine reach the gate of the scgool with the rest of new initiates as the initiation ceremony begins.

Rhiannon couldn't help but stare at every single little detail in Vania academy's courtyard: be it the polished white marble trails, the green grass areas filled with students sitting around, or the big statue of Vania that stood in the center of the courtyard.

The goddess was all white marble and black obsidian. Holding a triangle shaped metal in her raised arms, it was on fire, the flames cackling over the tip, that was pointing up. "Beautiful" mumbled Rhiannon.

"I know, right?" Nadine looked up with starry eyes. 

A group of other initiates walked passed them, towards a woman waiting in the distance. "I think all the newbies need to meet her at the gates, C'mon!" Nadine tore Rhiannon from the statue and pulled her in the woman's direction. They found a spot behind the group with enough space to see her: 

She was wrapped in golden robes, that dragged behind her a bit as she paced. Her headress was held in place by a golden ringlet, her braided raven black hair showed little bits of gray here and there, and the look on her face was a regal mask. 

Rhiannon knew her immediately: She was Regina Ellard, headmistress of Vania academy. 

"We are honored to welcome you, new practitioners, and show you the ways of Vania. If you please follow me inside, we'll begin the initiation ceremony in the lobby" Regina turned back and made her way to the big wooden doors that, with a flick of her hand, opened without a problem. 

"Did you see that? That was fire magic! Telekinesis! We'll be able to control obejcts with our minds! Open any door!" Nadine mumbled excitedly. 

Regina led them through the gigantic entrance lobby to what looked like a great hall, with chairs that seemed built into the floor, a narrow-ish aisle separated the two big clusters. "Please, take your seats on the front rows" Regina walked down the aisle to the little golden stage that was set up, a marble cube was hovering above it lightly. 

The few dozens or so of initiates took their places, as students dressed in Bronze, Silver and Gold garments strolled into the room, taking their seats behind them. "The students of Vania academy are here to watch you go through the moment that changed their- and will change your- lives" 

_what moment could she be talking about?_ Rhiannon leaned closer. 

"You see, humans like us aren't born with the ability to preform magic, we need an essence to do so. The goddess of Fire and flames was touched by our love for her creation, that she was merciful enough to lend us a scarp of the essence of her magic. And for that we are thankful"

The enrolled students behind them stood up: "we are thankful, Lady Vania" they said in unison. Rhiannon noted how their fingers were just barely touching, pointing upwards like the triangle the Vania statue was holding. 

Regina lowered her hand and the students sat back down. 

"Today, you'll be in contact with the fire essence, it will allow you to be able to create fire, as well will make you immune to it, it will allow you to learn the three bases of fire magic: Fire, Mind, and in time, Electricity and lighting." 

Rhiannon felt her fingers twitching already in anticipation. "Please bring forth the essence" commanded Regina. Two young men in golden coats carried a box together into the hall, they gently set it on the hovering, waiting cube, and opened the box. 

At first, Rhiannon had to look away from the bright whiteness of it, shielding her face with her wrists. But a second later, she slowly moved her arm from her face, and narrowed her eyes to look: 

The Essence was a combination of orange and white fire, a triangle pointing upwards that hovered all on itself above the cube. Regina seemed to be unbothered by the light of it, standing so close. "I will now read each name of the initiates, you will have to pledge yourself to Vania before touching it, understand?" 

Rhiannon, Nadine, and the other initiates simply nodded in awe. 

"Very well. Astrid Kane, please step forward" 

A tall, dark haired young woman that looked a little bit older than the required age of 18, stepped forward. Her leather boots squeaking across the aisle.

"Please stand on one knee and repeat the following: "I, Astrid Kane, pledge myself to you, Vania. I expect the power given to me and will use it for a noble cause" then, touch the Essence, it'll let you know when it's time" instructed Regina. 

Astrid did as she was told, she stood there motionless for three seconds before backing away instantly, she looked around at the crowd, blinking dreamily. "You are now a Bronze practitioner, you may return to your seat" Regina's smile was small, yet still warm. 

Regina read about eighteen before Regina called for Nadine, Who froze at the sound of her name. "You got this" whispers Rhiannon. "Go get that power" 

Nadine walked on shaking feet, speaking the words that many others before her already said, her back was turned to the audience, but Rhiannon could see the little moment of hesitation before Nadine touched the Essence. 

Her three seconds were over, and she backed away with a stunned gasp. "Congratulations, dear. Do try to be a little less stressed during practice hours will you?" Regina chuckled softly, without any shred of venom or cynicism. 

Nadine simply nodded before running back to her seat next to Rhiannon. "How bad was I? It was so obvious I was nervous, right?" She whispers quietly. "What, you think I'm not freaking terrified? What's it feel like touching it?" 

Nadine opened her mouth to answer just as Regina calmly announced: "Rhiannon Alcott" 

_Guess I'll find out for myself now.._

Rhiannon stood up and crossed the aisle, faintly aware of the looks the enrolled Bronzes and Silvers were given her. But nothing was more important now other than the Essence. 

She kneeled down on one knee, the Essence light forced her to keep her gaze to the floor. "I, Rhiannon Alcott" she took a shaky breath. "Pledge myself to you, Vania. I except the power given to me and will use it for a noble cause" simply saying these words felt as if a bracelet was wrapped around her hand, binding her somehow; drawing her to the floating, triangle shaped flames. 

Rhiannon decided to touch the tip of the triangle at the top, _one simple touch that will change your life forever._ The heat of the flames was not so scary anymore..

She touched it, and felt the world around her swirl in a mess of reds and oranges and yellows, she felt fuzzy warmth and electricity buzzing through her veins, from her feet to the tip of her head. The bright shape of the triangle facing upwards was clear, and then it wasn't, and then-

Rhiannon blinked and walked a few steps backward. _please, please don't let me fall on my face in front of everyone._ Regina dismissed her back to her seat. Her feet seemed to know the way, but her mind was still watching the colors swirl around her, still reeling from the daze. 

One major fact remained clear in her mind: _I can do magic now. There is no going back._

* * *

Once Regina finished reading all 48 names, she dismissed the students back to their business, Rhiannon and other new practitioners were ready to leave too; but Regina stopped them. 

"You know, there are 16 new trios still waiting to be announced" 

The new practitioners looked amongst themselves, nervous. "Now, I can feel in your essences that each of you have a natural gift for a certain type of magic, each trio must have a practitioner of each type. Elias Vergari, please come closer" 

A boy their age with moppy brown hair and high cheekbones walked quietly towards Regina. "You have a natural gift for mind magic, Telekinesis. Your partners must complete you in any way" Regina studied each of them closely. "Your trio partners will be Lenore Mirage, with the fire gift, and Owen Castilo, with the electric gift" 

A short redhead girl and a tall dark skinned man joined to stand next to Elias. "From now on, you are a trio, you study together, help eachother advance im studies and later on, in ranks too. Everything you do reflects back to your trio, they are you companions for your duration here in Vania" 

"This is gonna be so much fun!" Lenore pulled both boys to her level to hug them. "You will be given directions by Bronze practitioner Alma Rhee. Look for her" Regina pointed to the group of boys and girls in Bronze coats and jackets. "These practitioners will show you to your dorm, and will give you your schedule. Now, Yelena Ivory-"

Rhiannon tuned out as someone- Nadine- grabbed her wrist. "What if we both have the same gift? What if we won't be teammates?" 

"Well, we'll still be friends" insisted Rhiannon. "Okay, great. Good to know" Nadine's smile was so innocent and cute, Rhiannon considered straight up arguing with Regina in case they won't be on the same team.

"Rhiannon Alcott" Regina's voice got Rhiannon to focus again, the headmistress' eyes bore into her skull in a stern look. Rhiannon felt like shrinking in her spot.

"You have a natural gift for fire itself, the element. Your trio members would be Nadine Vassa, who has the gift of mind, and Astrid Kane, with the gift of electricity" 

Rhiannon grabbed Nadine into an excited hug. _Thank you thank you, Lady Vania! For hearing my wishes._

Astrid simply raised her eyebrows at them and agreed to shake hands. "You'll be given directions by Morgan Delevine." 

Rhiannon exchanged a look with Astrid, who simply shrugged and said: "lets get to our dorm, shall we?" 

Morgan was a tall, pale young woman, who signaled them to follow her. "The dorms are this way up the stairs" she lifted herself off the ground and simply floated up the stairway with Telekinesis. Nadine watched her, fascinated, Morgan simply laughed:

"Welcome to Vania academy, newbies"


	4. The first day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rihannon, Nadine and Astrid meet new friends and begin their journey as Bronze practitioners.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoot, I forgot this exists. Might as well continue it

Sleeping at their dorm room was the first time Rhiannon had a good night's sleep since Doneven, and even there she didn't sleep as good as she did here, in Vania

In _Vania!_ Rhiannon's eyes opened wide. _I made it! I made it here!_

Rhiannon sat up in her bed, next to her, Nadine held her hand above her luggage, her eyes closed in focus. When suddenly, a hairbrush rose out of the bag and floated around. "Nadine, you're doing it!" Rhiannon commented, which caused Nadine to abruptly open her eyes and the hairbrush to fall. "Aww I missed it!" She said, disappointed.

"What matters is you did it! You are gifted for Telekinesis" encouraged Rhiannon. "And you did it in less than a day after getting your power. That's impressive" Astrid raises her head from the book she was sketching in. 

The third member of their trio was a bit mysterious. She liked to stick to her books while Rhiannon and Nadine went to dinner yesterday, but the two respected that. They knew she'll warm up to them. 

"Speaking of, I think we should get ready soon, breakfast is about to begin" Astrid's icy blue eyes seemed playful as she closed her book. Rhiannon and Nadine hurried to the closest, where the school uniform were tidily kept.

The uniform were simple enough: bronze trousers and a button up bronze shirt made from smooth silk, Rhiannon never had anything this smooth and comfortable to wear, she buttoned up her shirt and wrapped the long bronze robe around her shoulders. 

She looked at her hair in the mirror, deciding to keep it down, it was still pretty short, chestnut brown hair that tickled her shoulders, Rhiannon slicked her bangs back and turned to her trio members. "Alright, let's go down there"

* * *

The dinning room was huge: from the stairs above Rhiannon could see the serving table in the western side of the room, and next to it, tables for six all around. "It seems like we'll have to share our table with another trio" Astrid chuckled. 

"That can mean new friends!" Nadine squealed excitedly. 

She led them down the stairs and to the serving table, where each of them poured yogurt and eggs and toast on their plate. Never in her life did Rihannon saw eggs that fresh in Doneven. 

_Alex would have loved it here_. She thought with a pinch of sadness. 

"I think I see a table with seats for a trio over there!" Nadine Rhiannon and Astrid to follow her towards where another trio of two boys and a girl sat down. 

"They look pretty familiar" whispered Rhiannon to Nadine just before they sat. "Hey, I remember you. Elias, right? The first guy headmistress Ellard called for the trio formings" Astrid was the first to talk. 

Elias blinked in suprise before turning red. "Yes, that's me. These are my trio members: Owen and Lenore" 

"Hey there!" Lenore already grabbed each of their hands in an iron handshake. "I have to admit, you five are like, the first people I've _really_ had the chance to get to know? Since like, I grew up mostly on my own- is that cool that I share this fact with you? I don't know if that's something you share when you first meet- oooh! Are you guys excited as I am to begin learning fire magic?"

Rhiannon sat there for a second. Stunned. "That was.. a lot to take in. But yeah! I'm excited" she replied finally. 

"Yeah! We're gonna set some shit on _fire!"_ Lenore was quite a lot to handle with her enthusiasm, but Rhiannon decided she was harmless really. And it seemed like so did her trio members. 

"Where are you guys from?" Asked Nadine to break the ice. "I'm from Malaqie, around lake Dearborn" said Owen, Rhiannon raised her eyebrows. "I'm from the Six alliance too! From Doneven though" 

"Not a nice place" Owen chuckled. "It certainly wasn't. I had to become an archer just to kick out the damned birds and Lesser faes lurking around" Rhiannon sighed. 

The days where she and Alex would go hunt in the woods around the village, running into the annoying, slippery lesser faes that managed to sneak up to the surface, drawn by the death that haunted Doneven (any place, really. But Mostly rural areas) 

How fast Alex was with their father's dual swords, she kept them for a while after he died, learned the bases with them.

Now she had magic, so she left the weapons behind. 

"Have you guys encountered any faes ever before?" Asked Lenore quietly. Rhiannon noted Astrid flinch slightly at the coner of her eye.

"They want us to learn to fight them, since more and more are coming" said Owen calmly. "But I've never seen one. Not even a lesser fae, near Malaqie" 

"That's because your side of the lake isnt crawling with death for them to be drawn to. I've fought off some alongside my twin brother" talking about Alex made her uneasy. "Cool!" Lenore exclaims "I also had to fight some lesser faes but I burned them off! That's why I applied to study fire magic" 

Nice soothing bell chimes filled the dining hall. "Speaking of Study. I think we should get to class" Elias chuckled nervously. 

"Yep, we definitely don't wanna be late for the first lesson in magic!" Nadine was the first to stand up and push past students to the dirty dishes zone. 

_good luck to us._ Rhiannon sent a smile in Astrid's direction, who was a bit paler than usual over the last few minutes. Was it something they said?

Whatever it was, they were a trio now, so Nadine and her should get to the bottom of the issue and help Astrid out if needed. 


	5. The first lesson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhiannon and Co attend their first lesson in magic

"Please, take your seats" the tall, lean professor leaned on his table, his eyes scanning each of the 48 new students as he spoke. 

"I'm professor Hannigan. That's how you'll refer to me until you become first year masters. When you all chose this school, I'm sure your were intrigued by the prestigious of it all, the incredible sensation of fire-" he conjured a ball of flames "-on your hands" 

Rihannon and the other students watched, mesmerized by the simple motion. Hannigan continued: "now, when you're connected to the essence, you have to remember the power is inside you now. It's all in the mind." His expression turned amused. "I'm sure most of you tried to use telekinesis today, just to see if it works?" 

Rhiannon eyed Nadine. 

"Were any of you successful?" 

Nadine and three other people with the talent for mind magic raised their hands. 

"Well-" Lenore raised her hand to talk. "I accidently set the trash can on fire!" 

Professor Hannigan's smile widened. "See? All in the head. Now, to conjure flames, you'll have to close your eyes for the first few tries- annoying, I know- and trust that there is actually a ball of flames in your hand. Now try, all of you"

Rhiannon closed her eyes, holding her hand forwards and imagining the warmth echoing from the sure ball of flame in her hand. 

She felt nothing, no warmth, nothing in her hand. Her mind was racing: _just, take a peek! Maybe you have to see it to believe!_

She shut her eyes even tighter. "I can do it, I have fire in my hands!" She hissed to herself. "Are you okay?" That was Nadine's voice, Rhiannon opened her eyes without thinking. Now there was nothing in her open hand.

Nadine's hand was empty as well. "I'm fine" insisted Rhiannon. 

"Very well! I saw some nice fire balls in the hands of believers" Professor Hannigan chuckled. "In my class, you'll learn about the element itself, and how to utilize it. Faes- both lesser and greater- are showing up more and more. Rising from the ground somehow, getting past our defenses of masters in the north. I'm gonna have to teach you how to use your element to _fight."_

Now, instead of conjuring a fireball, the fire in Professor Hannigan's hand _took shape._ Into a double edged spear. He gave it a pivot spin, aiming it at an invisible enemy. 

Rhiannon leaned forward in amazement: _I can learn to do that?! Conjure a bow with infinite arrows?_

"Fighting with fireballs can only give you that much distance, but making your fire into a weapon, that you can _feel-_ " he grabbed the spear without a problem. "-will give you the best possible advantage. Lesser Faes dissolve at the mere touch of fire, greater faes are.. a bit more difficult. But that's not something you'll learn about in _my_ class" Hannigan waved off the last bit

* * *

The rest of the lesson went smoothly enough, and Rhiannon was bouncing on her toes at the thought of training. For now, they have three classes all day: Hannigan's class, Regina's class on faes, and lastly, a lesson in Telekinesis, which Nadine was clearly looking forward to.

"Can you believe it? Being able to conjure weapons! What else could we do with fire?"

"I hope we could fly, like jets" Astrid sighs. "I always wanted to do that" 

"So.. lunch?" Asked Nadine. 

"Oh please, I'm starving!" Replied Rhiannon. "Care if we join you?" The three turned, to see Elias, Owen and Lenore standing behind them. "Sure!" Nadine chippered.

"So, Lenore, I heard you set the trashcan on fire?" Astrid raised her eyebrows over her plate, taking a bite. "Oh yeth!" said Lenore, mouthful. 

"We had to run to the bathroom and fill Elias' spitting glass with water a few times" said Owen.

"It was exhausting, and now I need to rewash that cup" Elias glared at his teammate, but Rhiannon knew he wasn't _that_ mad.

He was impressed.

So was Rhiannon, with Natalie's display of power this morning, and now Lenore's.. doubt started taking root in her heart.

 _What if I'm not good enough? What if I was one of the students who couldn't do it?_ the anxiety ate her up from the inside. She couldn't think of what she would do if she failed here, going back to Doneven was not an option.

"Rhiannon? Are you okay?" Asked Astrid with concern. "I'm fine" Rhiannon stabbed her fork into the chicken with.. a little more force than necessary. 

There was no way she would let herself fail here.

* * *

At night, Rhiannon snuck down the corridors and into the courtyard. 

The statue of Vania was even more beautiful at nighttime: white marble and black obsidian under the half full moon. The tringle- essence like- she was holding, still burning, lighting the courtyard for her.

Rhiannon lowered her head, closed her eyes: _Lady of Fire, please. Please, help me succeed, let me preform your magic well._

The wind swished, whipping Rhiannon's hair in her face, her eyes stung, her hands freezing. 

_Come on, I believe I can do it, I can conjure flame!_

The cold was no more, her hands felt like they would after sitting in front of the fireplace for some time. Rhiannon didn't dare to open her eyes. Lest the feelinh will disappear. 

But her anxiety got the better of her. For a second, when she opened her eyelids just a little, she saw it: the ball of flame the side of an apple, and then it was gone. 

Relief and excitement bubbled in her stomach. _thank you, Vania!_ she thought. 

But that wasn't enough. The relief suddenly turned into determination: _Hannigan said it'll take a few times until we can conjure flame with our eyes open.._

_But why wait?_

Rhiannon closed her eyes, focusing on the flame she knew was forming in her hand, she shut her eyelids tighter, giving it more juice. When she slowly opened them, it took the fire three extra seconds to fade. She could see it in her hand. 

_Again._ She repeated to herself. This time, it felt like it took even more time for the fire to be gone. _Again._

Rhiannon didn't even notice the sun was nearly rising, all she focused was on the ball of flames starting to shape into a little dagger in her hand, a victorious smile on her face. 


	6. Know thy enemy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A week later, Sitting in Regina's class, Rhiannon is filled with new drive to get better as she hears about the coming tournament with the other school of magic.

"The main difference between lesser faes and greater faes is..?" Regina Ellard was pacing before their mini amphitheatre where their class and another bronze class sat, and she was clearly waiting for an answer. 

Elias raised his hand. "Lesser faes dissolve when they are mortally stuck, greater faes don't" 

Regina's face curl into a smile. "Correct, Mr Vergari. Any other differences?" 

Rhiannon fought several lesser faes with Alex. "Lesser faes can duplicate themselves" she comments quietly. Regina still heard that. "Correct, greater faes can't do that." 

"So why are greater faes so dangerous?" Lenore furrows her brows. "They can appear human, the trick is to see through the thing that covers their forehead, where they have a mark that differentiate them from us, a sign of their demonic heritage" Replied Regina. "They can dissapear and reappear where they wish, and they typically have some sort of power, it depends which kingdom they hail from" 

"Do they have fire magic like we do?" Asks Nadine.

"They used to renown Vania and Greigos like we do" said Regina. "But when the gods deemed _us_ worthy of their essences, the jealous faes turned to their own ancestors, spouting many different powers for different greater faes. Lesser faes are merely generated mutations of faes and demons, that's why they can duplicate and why we must always recognize the original lesser fae to kill all of its clones. Can anyone tell me _How_ one can do that?" 

Rhiannon tuned out as the older bronze practitioners answered the question. Her eyelids felt like closing and she fought hard against the entertaining idea of dozing off: she took practice to extremes yesterday, staying up to conjure a bow and some arrows until the sun was really beginning to rise over the horizon.

Besides: to her the only way was to simply kill all the duplicate that look the same, without caring which lesser fae is the real one. As long as all of them are destroyed. 

"Professor Ellard, what about the tournament?" Asked one of the older bronzes. 

This sparked Rhiannon's attention and focus: even in some godsforsaken place like Doneven people talked about the Greigos and Vania summer tournament, where the two schools engaged in healthy competition of fighting. 

"Ah, yes. The tournament at the _begining of summer._ a good ten months ahead." Regina crounched her nose. "As you know, the tournament is for Silvers and Golds only, nothing you'll have to worry about at least in the coming year." 

_Oh._ Something pinched in Rhiannon's heart.

* * *

"Today, we'll be leaving for the training grounds, so you can test your new skills in an arena. A great learning experience for you, if you ask me" Professor Hannigan's voice sounded loud and clear over the courtyard as he lead their class of 48 out of the school gates and into the train station. 

Rhiannon spent The train ride looking out the window and trying to keep steady and not fall asleep. Hannigan signaled everyone to follow him to the ferry dock, the students huddled together while he bought the tickets.

"I can't believe we're going to Star island!" Nadine's smile lit up whatever space she was in, and Rhiannon admitted; her enthusiasm was contagious. "Have any of you been?" Asked Owen. 

Astrid looked distant. "Once, to watch the tournament, but that's it"

Hannigan returned before any of them could ask Astrid further questions. The bronzes all got on the ferry as it started slowly sailing towards lake Mero, where the star shaped island stood _right in the middle._

Soon enough they reached the dock, Hannigan ordered everyone to get off, grouped them together and pointed at the colosseum that surrounded the island. "I know most of you are excited to see this marvelous place for real, for yourself. But remember, for now, this is a place for practice, there will also be students from Greigos visiting. You can engage with them but I don't want any funny business. Are we clear?"

"Yes sir" said the students in unison. 

"Alright than, follow me" Hannigan raised a hand to signal them to enter with him. 

Rhiannon stopped to stare at the size of the Colosseum: she was sure all of lake Dearborn would fit inside it no problem. "Amazing, right? I've seen pictures and the televised event, but nothing compared to the real deal" Nadine's eyes were glittering just like Rhiannon's. 

Doneven couldn't afford itself the electricity; but then again, so were all the little western city states besides Vania. Owen's city state village could, being rich in the resources of the lake, but that was all. 

Nadine's smile faltered. "Oh no, I forgot you don't have stuff like that where you live, I'm sorry. Let's just.. go find ourselves a spot to practice." 

Astrid, besides them, nods. 

The arena itself was enclosed with a circle on the floor. When they got closer, the three saw it was actually the water from Lake Mero, enclosed by a net. There were several big cubes that could be used as sheilds and could be helpful during a fight. 

"Excuse you, what are you doing here?" An unfamiliar voice sneered from behind. "We're here to train, same as you" Said Rhiannon without even looking back. 

"With all do respect, you are bronzes. And you should respect those of higher rank." The same disdain sounded again. This time, Rhiannon turned around.

She found herself staring at three young women, the middle one was the one who spoke: blonde haired, pale skinned and dressed in silver robes. "Who are you to claim this arena as yours?" Rhiannon clenched her fists.

"My name is Stella Seabright and these are my trio members, bronze girl. Silver, ranked highest in the silver class of Griegos academy" 

_Ah, so a water practitioners._ "So you can raise water, so what?" Rhiannon scoffed. 

Stella's mouth pressed into a thin line, "I can drown you and your little friends faster than you can even think"

"Not faster than I can burn you" Rhiannon lit her fireballs, shaping them into twin swords like her brother's. "Mare here can read your kind, You're merely a newbie, and you don't mean that. Meaning you aren't worth our time" 

Rhiannon tightened her grip on the fire blades. "Listen you little-"

" _Rhiannon"_ Astrid grabbed her wrist. "It's not worth getting in trouble for that"

"We were just looking around, just so you know" Nadine sent an apologetic smile at the three silver girls. "Sorry to bother you" 

And then the two dragged Rhiannon away, her fire blades still swishing around.

* * *

"How the hell did you get so good at weapon making? I can't even shape the fireball into a different shape!" Nadine inspected the fire daggers still in Rhiannon's hand. 

"Well, Rhiannon _is_ natural to the element. It makes sense she'll be a fast learner" said Astrid, deep in thought. 

"Still, the only one I've seen conjure something like that in a week is Lenore, and Owen and Elias say she practices every dull moment she gets" says Nadine. "Are you also training like that? I never saw you do it" 

Rhiannon thought for a second on telling them about her night training sessions, with only Vania as her witness. But decided against it. "I guess I'm simply a natural, like Astrid said" she stared at the arena again, where Stella and her trio moved fast, like fighters: spewing waves and whips made of water and shards made of ice. Stella was controling most of it, with the skills of a Silver acolyte with at least two years of training behind her. 

_I wish_ _we could register for the tournament. Just so I can wipe that disdain look off her face, show her who the newbies are._

but for that to happen, their trio needs to become Silvers: to pass the two tests of fighting with fire _and_ Telekinesis, along with a written exam; and they must be prepared for those in eight months time. 

_Guess I'll have to drag Nadine and Astrid hard into training: they've got work to do._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enter our rival- to friend- to lover. Their romance would build up across all three planned "books" (works in the series) 
> 
> If we're making RWBY parallels: I'd say Rhiannon is A mix of Ruby and Yang, and so Is Nadine (she's a lot more of Ruby tho) Astrid is Blake, and Stella is Weiss, completing the team.


End file.
